If you’re anything at all like me, you probably have become dependent on social media apps without even realizing it. A couple weekends ago, I was at a party with my friends, and I noticed that every single person in the room – including myself – was crowded around someone else, trying to get a picture of her doing something funny for their Snapchat story. It was as if we couldn’t enjoy each other’s company – instead, we had to prove to everyone else that yes, we were having fun, and they should be jealous. The next day, I deleted Snapchat off of my phone entirely.
For the last two weeks, I’ve kept Snapchat off of my phone, only re-downloading it once or twice when I wanted to post something to my story. Those handful of times when I did upload something, it wasn’t driven by competitiveness or fear of missing out. I kind of just felt like sharing something funny with my friends, so I did.
Not having the app handy also keeps me from obsessively checking what other people are up to. It’s hard to not be constantly inundated by what others are projecting into the world – who they’re seeing, what they’re eating, how they’re dressed. This kind of constant exposure was really starting to get to me. Whenever I was out or doing something even mildly interesting, I felt pressured to share it with the world (masked in a filter, of course). If I see someone I might be curious about or jealous of doing something cool, I immediately feel inadequate. And I can’t imagine I’m alone in feeling this way.
I think one of the best forms of self-care is limiting social media usage. Some sites can be positive and fun, but others can become damaging to self-image in a very sneaky way. It’s important to listen to yourself when you’re feeling stressed or less-than. If you can figure out what’s causing this, I urge you to eliminate it from your life.
I’m not really sure if I’ll ever go back to using Snapchat as regularly as I used to, but at this particular point in my life, I kind of don’t want to. I’m busy, I’m engaged, and I’m working on re-building my self-image. If you feel stressed out by apps like this, delete them. It does wonders for your mental health. So, at least for now, I’m putting my phone in my pocket and allowing myself to open up to other things. I’ll let you know how it goes.